Sunday, June 16, 2013

Tentative Parenting : What will get you the job in 2025?

Working Mom : So K2, how was school
K2 (rolls his eyes and in a barely audible voice) : OK
Working Mom : So what do you want to do now? Do you want to go to Whole Foods? You can meet Paul (the cheese guy), you can walk around a little bit and then you can get Pizza
K2 ( tears in his eyes) : I want to go home!

We go home and guess what K2 does...he gets on his ipad and starts playing games. A my brother the start-up dude lauds K2's behavior...calling him smart, brilliant...he has finished all levels on Plants vs. Zombie....woohoo!  I see kids sitting like mindless zombies in front of the idiot box...playing video games, texting on phones...and I worry. When I was 6 years old, my only exposure to electronics were the Black Dial Phone and my dad's old radio...we didn't have a TV till I turned 10 (and even then it was a b/w)...so we were out baking in the sun, catching silverfish in the ponds, playing with friends, climbing mango trees, saving injured birds and animals, fighting with friends, reading books,sharing secrets with friends. Our lives were filled with memories made with people not machines.I don't have an issue with technology per se...but I do have an issue with my son preferring the ipad to cycling outside with my neighbor's kid...

I see the next generation more socially inept and abrupt than us and unfortunately I attribute it to this technology glut...I see people prefer being cooped up in their nooks on calls vs. hanging out together in meetings, kids create virtual cities and playgrounds while the actual playgrounds, trails are all conspicuously empty, do LOLs online vs. have a hearty belly laugh with friends ...


So where am I getting to with this - The number one thing that is a pre-requisite for any job in a decade from now is  Face time (and no I don't mean the ipad one) and Getting Along.  

Wasn't it Einstein who said - I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots. Was he right?

How is your weekend turning out?

P.S : Why 2025, because that is the year K2 will be 18 and I believe an eligible candidate for the job market...wishful thinking? maybe!

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